In a recent
study of American households, the United States Census Bureau found
more individuals living alone or with a partner without children in
2000 than in 1990. Most of those living alone are widowers,
divorcees and elderly people.

According to the report, people living alone comprised more than 27
million households in 2000, up from about 22 million in 1990.

Frank Hobbs,
a demographer who helped prepare the study, says fewer Americans are
living within what’s often called the traditional family, a husband,
wife and child, or children.

“Those
households that are most common, if we talk about specifics are:
Number one is living alone. It’s more common than any other at 26
percent of all U.S. households. A household consisting of only a
householder, a spouse, and a child is actually in 2000 the second
most common with 22 percent of all households. And the third most
common consists of just a householder and a spouse, with no one else
present.”

Women and the Single
Household

More and more
Americans are drifting away from this type of family unit.

Many
analysts say more Americans are increasingly living alone due to a
variety of reasons that include divorce, and economic and social
changes that began in the 1960s. Peter Francese, a demographer with
the Ogilvy & Mather advertising agency in New York, says the shift
toward living alone is largely due to the economic and social gains
women have made in recent decades.

“The story
of the change in American households over the last 30 years is the
story of the growing economic power of women, their ability to get
good jobs, and to support themselves and their children without a
husband. That is the most important change over the past 30 years,
and really describes the ‘why’ of so much of this household change.”

The Cost of Marriage

In addition,
Mr. Francese says so-called “marriage penalties” that levy higher
income taxes on married couples also dissuade people from getting
married. He adds many married couples are not eligible for the same
benefits under current welfare programs for the poor.

Even though
Congress recently passed a law that temporarily suspends the
marriage tax penalty, Peter Fagan, a culture and family issues
fellow at The Heritage Foundation in Washington, says the
legislation benefits only the middle class.

“The
marriage tax has been reduced and almost pretty much eliminated for
the middle class. But it is massive, it’s draconian on the poor.
And they don’t pay taxes. So where’s the marriage tax? It comes in
the welfare payments. If you are on welfare and you cohabitate with
somebody, you’ll receive much more in welfare payments. If the same
couple gets married, depending on the state they’re in, the welfare
payment will be reduced by up to 25 percent.”

Moreover,
Mr. Fagan says the demographic shift toward unmarried households,
especially cohabitation, is becoming increasingly the norm. He
adds, “There’s been an acceptance of it, whereas it was seriously
frowned on and lots of social effort was put into keeping families
together before 1950. Particularly since the sexual revolution in
the mid-1960s, splitting and setting-up families without a married
father and mother has become widely accepted.”

Some
analysts warn that children living with single or divorced mothers,
or cohabiting partners are more likely to become involved in drugs
and crime, and do poorly in

school.
Although others say many factors, including good health, parental
guidance and financial stability of a household contribute to the
welfare of children regardless of the type of families they grow up
in.

Jennifer
Gaboury, a board member for the Alternatives to Marriage Project, an
advocacy group for unmarried people, argues that there is no direct
correlation between marital status of a household and whether or not
a child is successful in life. She says that 12-million single
parents in the United States are successfully raising children on
their own.

New Realities, New
Households

Because
there are different types of living structures in the United States,
including divorced parents and unmarried siblings raising their
children together, Jennifer Gaboury says government policies should
take into account the variety of households. She goes on to say,
“There are a myriad of different designs of families, so we can no
longer pretend that families come with a mother, a father and
several children. And we need to acknowledge that reality and
support all different kinds of families.”

The Bush
Administration has proposed a new initiative to help strengthen the
institution of marriage.

According to
Bridgette Maher of the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C.,
President Bush’s program is included in welfare reform legislation,
currently under review by the U.S. Congress. She says, “The
President’s ‘Healthy Marriage Initiative’ includes allocating about
300 million dollars for marriage strengthening programs. These can
include premarital education classes to help people prepare for
marriage or marriage strengthening classes which would teach couples
how to better their communication skills.”

Most
analysts expect a further decline in the number of married couples
with children during the next decade to one out of every five
households. Because of that, some experts contend that federal
legislation needs to catch up with the move away from traditional
families, and extend tax and welfare benefits to single and
unmarried couples that account for much of this demographic shift in
the United States.